


Alpinia Purpurata and the Sea

by monsieurerwin



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Friendship/Love, Hawaiian Hunk, Homesickness, Other, Wordcount: Over 1.000, what a good set of buddies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-26
Updated: 2016-06-26
Packaged: 2018-07-18 09:43:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7309924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/monsieurerwin/pseuds/monsieurerwin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The number one thing Hunk misses from home is the ocean.<br/>Also flowers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Alpinia Purpurata and the Sea

He never thought he would miss a smell. Back home it was a constant, an underlying scent that carried under everyday life. Even on celebration days, when the smell of pork and chicken and grilled pineapples overrode almost everything else, it seasoned the air with a perfect salty tang.

 

Put simply, Hunk missed the ocean.

 

Not the waves, or the colors, (though those were sorely missed too) what he missed the most was the scent of salt water in the air. He remembered when he first left the Islands, his sleep was completely knocked awry. The first few weeks of boot camp he spent the nights lying awake, watching the first of the artificial lights flicker on and wondering why he could not fall asleep. 

 

It wasn't until the camp was in the middle of survival training on an island in the South Pacific and Hunk was waking up feeling more refreshed than at base camp where there were beds and no bugs and air-conditioning that it dawned on him.

 

He missed the air. He missed the breezes that would bring him the scents of the sea. And he wondered how he would ever get a good night's sleep in the far reaches of space. 

 

Eventually, the ocean was just a distant memory, crammed in the corner of his mind. Manuals, formulas, exams, and physical training doing an efficient job of tiring him out and leaving him exhausted enough to fall asleep almost as soon as his body hit a comfortable surface. But it was when his body was most relaxed, that his memories would crowd to the forefront of his consciousness. 

 

He would often dream of wading through shallows, seeing multitudes of tiny fish flitting here and there on business known only to the other ocean dwellers. He would look to the shore and see a riotous spread of color, most often yellow hibiscus and morning glories which his waking mind assumed was influenced by the yellow lion's consciousness mixing with his own. But sometimes, the shore would be covered in red and Hunk would wake up gasping for air. He used to think it was blood until once in his dream he left the water and walked towards the shore where he found himself surrounded by red ginger. 

 

That morning, he woke up crying, calling out for a grandmother he barely remembered. After that, all of his screens were covered in flowers. Most prominent always, the red ginger of his grandmother. 

 

But even now, with the adventure of a lifetime, giant robot lions, and a flying castle, the homesickness would hit in the late nights and early evenings. He would stare longingly at the few pictures that had been saved to his devices before the warp jump had severed all contact with the civilizations he once knew and wish he had saved more. 

 

Pidge noticed his homesickness and tried to help by giving him a holographic poster of a planet Allura had mentioned that vaguely resembled the Islands. Lance would engage him in conversations of home, trying to get Hunk to tell him embarrassing stories from when he was a kid. Keith would always bring in strange red plants from the planets they visited, always putting them in dishes in the common areas. Shiro would volunteer himself as the guinea pig for Hunk's culinary experiments, bravely trying anything Hunk placed in front of him. 

 

Hunk knew he was lucky to have friends like them. He just wished there was a way to transport himself back home, if only for a few breaths. Hell, he'd even give half his rations for an ocean scented  _ candle.  _

 

All of this mulled through his head as he headed to one of the small kitchens on the ship for a midnight snack. As he sat there, mournfully spooning up the tangy green goop that had become the new staple of his diet, he began to notice a slight disturbance in the quiet of the ship. 

 

“Listen, if he's not in his bunk and he's not with the Dandelion Wonder, he's probably in the kitchen.” 

 

“Pidge, have you got that tracker up and running yet? There's at least five kitchens on this ship and I am Ready. To. Sleep.”

 

“Lance, Keith, BOTH of you lay off Pidge and go check the kitchen.” 

 

So it wasn't really a surprise when both their heads peeked into the kitchen and split into identical grins and strolled into the room. 

 

When Shiro and Pidge followed soon after, Hunk roused himself a little more and looked between the four, wondering what brought them here as well. 

 

It was Pidge who first broke the silence, 

 

“Heya Hunk… How's it going?”

 

“Uhhh… Fine? What's going on guys?” 

 

Lance looked almost bashful as he pulled a small pouch from his jacket. 

 

“Allura helped us make this. So. Yeah. Here you go.” 

 

Keith rolled his eyes, “Wow Lance, so eloquently put. Just slap it onto his face and call it a night.” 

 

Shiro was quick to interrupt and save them all a long and nonsensical argument. 

 

“What they both meant to say, is we all wanted to give you something to remember home with. So we worked with Allura and Coran to make a little something for you. And by ‘we’ I mean mostly Pidge and Allura did the work and the rest of us were test subjects and input providers.” 

 

Hunk slowly took the pouch and stared at it, too stunned to even think of opening it. 

 

Pidge nudged their shoulder into his side, 

 

“Well? Are ya gonna open it?”

 

He pulled open the drawstring and out tumbled a handful of small purple shards. Once in his hand, they immediately began releasing a small hint of perfume. A salty, tangy, seaside-on-a-hot-day perfume that sent Hunk reeling into a memory he never thought he'd fully regain. 

 

“Allura said the scent should last for a while. All you have to do is hold the crystals in your hand for a few seconds and the scent should emanate for a few hours afterwards.”

 

There really wasn't anything Hunk could have said. So naturally, he cried a little and pulled the nearest people into a bear hug. Which happened to be everyone. 

 

With people like this and the weird bizarre alien technology they manipulated to remind him of home, Hunk is pretty sure he can handle anything that comes his way. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> So here ya go, my first piece inspired by this wonderful new fandom <3 The title comes from the scientific name for Red Ginger which looks like [this](http://www.redgingermd.com/images/redginger.gif) if you were wondering.  
> Inspired by conversations with [James](https://twitter.com/foodibranch) on twitter!  
> I'm so glad Hunk is getting so much love on Twitter because he's my absolute favorite. Also yes I have officially given the Yellow Lion the nickname "Dandelion Wonder". 
> 
> ..get it dande-LION  
> hahaha I love myself sometimes.


End file.
